Dallas Mayor And County Hold Press Conference On Status Of Ebola Patient And His Family; Official: Contaminated Items In Sealed Barrels In Truck; Dallas Mayor: There Is No Fear In Our Eyes; Three Students May Have Had Contact With Patient

Aired October 3, 2014 - 20:00 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN GUEST HOST: Good evening.

We have breaking news tonight on the Ebola story. We're waiting to hear from Dallas mayor Mike Rawlings and county school officials who any minute are expected to announce late developments in the story.

Now, one of those developments almost certainly be that the family who hosted Thomas Duncan and maybe exposed to the virus that sickened him, has been moved. Moved after spending the last five days just steps away from the soiled linens that Mr. Duncan slept on.

Crews today in Hazmat gear removed those and other potentially contaminated items from that unit, but it doesn't seem they removed them from the apartment complex as a whole. The Bureaucratic back and forth over that, just one of the many signs that so far authorities had been struggling with a challenge of a single case of Ebola.

Earlier I spoke with Duncan's stepdaughter who was with him as his condition worse. And her story of her encounter with the public health system that was supposed to protect us all, instantly breathtaking.

We are waiting for that news conference. And it set to begin any minute. But as we wait for officials, I want to go to Martin Savidge with the latest from that apartment complex, that apartment where the man was sickened with Ebola.

And that apartment, Martin, I understand is now at empty of, at least, people who are living there?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that is right, John, all of this happening late in the number of hours, late in the afternoon. And much of it happening after reporting that would first came on CNN.

Let's talk about the quarantined family. They have now have been relocated somewhere. And authorities will not say where, but somewhere in Dallas county. And it is interesting how this all came about. Earlier in the say, they said they wanted to move the family but didn't have a place to move them to. That seemed to be real frustration. And that apparently some family in Texas came forward and said we have a home. Not just any home. But apparently a home that is isolated, gated, set away from the rest of the community that apparently they were willing to say this family could use, they wanted to make sure that the family in quarantine had a place. This is that place. Again, they're not identifying where it is. But they are on that way to the location.

As for the linens and as of the mattresses and as for everything that may have been contaminated by Thomas Duncan, it is now said to be out of the apartment but not off the apartment property, per se. That transportation is still being organized. When it happens it is all supposed to be loaded into a trailer en masse, taken somewhere, and then it is going to incinerated burned. Exactly when it is going to happen, we don't know. The final cleanup of everything in that apartment still expected to take several more days.

So that is the very latest, John.

BERMAN: Is this a plan, a road map they're following, Martin? Because it almost seems as if they're making it up as they go along. First, the hazmat crew show up to take the towels. They're told they can't go in. Then they get in, they can't leave the property. Then they're told they can leave the property but they are sure where to go. It just seems almost like they're just making it up.

SAVIDGE: Well, there is a plan. Part of what you realized though, is that there was a plan that seemed to look very good on paper. But when it came to where the rubber meets the road those things that are important, the waste, what do you do with Ebola waste when it is not on hospital property? Suddenly that was like wow, we need to figure that out. And they have figured it out at this point.

The quarantine, many people were saying why would you quarantine four people who apparently were very close to this Ebola victim. Maybe why not put them in a hospital facility and watch over them there? That never happened. Apparently, the decision was left up to local authorities. And again, it was thought if they were moved today they would go to a medical facility. And again, apparently, it didn't happen. They went to a private residence that had been donated.

So, I won't say it is being made up as they go along. But certainly, some of the rules have change along the way.

BERMAN: No. It is a fair point you make, Martin. But, of course, it also should a lot of their moves essentially at the same time as the soiled linens that they had been living next to for days. We are waiting for the news conference from the mayor of Dallas, any sense, Martin, what he might say?

SAVIDGE: Well, I think what we're going to hear is, of course, what we sort of have been telling you. You're going to get it officially what has transpired. And this is why it has transpired this way that has happened.

You are right. There is a lot of criticism. People have sort of said, you know, you keep trying to reassure the people of Dallas that you know what you're doing and everything is going according to your plan, yet it seems that there have been nothing but a series of missteps ever since Thomas Duncan first presented himself at the nearby hospital, said that he was ill, said that he came from Liberia, and come from an Ebola hot zone, seemed to have the symptoms. And yet he was given an antibiotic and told to go back home, which of course was the very wrong thing to do. From there, why the linens took so long to clean up. Why were people quarantined in a community surrounded by many other people. On and on and on, the public said it doesn't look like you know what you're doing even though you tell us, rest assured we know what we're doing.

BERMAN: Martin Savidge for us outside the apartment complex where over the last few hours there finally has been a lot of action.

Martin, our thanks to you.

Again, we're waiting to hear from the mayor of Dallas any minute right now. We're also told we will hear from county school administrators. There are several children affected by this.

Earlier today, we heard from federal officials who said in so many words don't worry we have got this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LISA MONACO, HOMELAND SECURITY ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT: I think it is very important to remind the American people that the United States has the most capable health care infrastructure and the best doctors in the world bar none.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: That is President Obama's assistant for homeland security speaking at length about how well prepared the country is for Ebola. It does to many people seem, though, still an open question.

So joining us now with the fact check here our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen.

Elizabeth, you have been covering this for months now here in the United States and in west Africa, as well. The administration tells us everything is under control with all going according to plan, but is that really the case?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think several things have not gone according to plan. So let's just take one, there are so many different details here. Let's just look at one of them.

So on August 4th, Josh Earnest at the White House says that customs and border patrol, that they are carefully , those were his words, carefully monitoring passengers who came in from west Africa into the United States. Well, I came in from west Africa into the United States on Saturday of last week.

So less than a week ago, there was no monitoring at all. I told them that I was a journalist who was covering Ebola and you would think that would have been like ding, ding, ding, but they didn't ask me did you get near patients. They didn't ask me did you get near dead bodies? Instead, the official started to hand me my passport back and said, welcome home. And then he said, wait a minute, I got an email, something about something I was supposed to tell passengers coming from places like Liberia. Hold on a second. I will be right back.

He then confer with the colleague who confer to colleague. They all came back and said you're supposed to be monitoring your health for 21 days. And I said what symptoms should I be looking for? And they couldn't tell me what symptoms to look for. And you know, what is even worse, is that my two colleagues who I traveled with, they were not told anything. They weren't even to monitor for symptoms and none of us were asked about our exposure to people with Ebola.

That is not careful monitoring. Now, once I said this on television, all of a sudden customs and border patrol is handing out materials pamphlets talking about the importance of monitoring symptoms. But it should not have taken me to say this on television.

BERMAN: No, you're right. I mean, it is good on them, though, for reacting once you did. And Elizabeth Cohen, you know, thanks to you for going there to seeing the epidemic firsthand and then coming back to explain to us what we have all seen.

I want to bring in Doctor Seema Yasmin right now, former CDC detective, currently a professor of public health at the University of Texas in Dallas and a staff writer of the "Dallas Morning News." Also joining us Bonnie Castillo, a registered nurse, and director of the RN, Response Network, and because Ebola crosses borders and jurisdiction, of course, we're joined by the CNN national security analyst Juliette Kayyem. She is former federal and state homeland security official who has dealt with a lot of these issues.

You know, Juliette, you served in the Obama administration in homeland security preparing for situations like these. We have one case now of Ebola that was diagnosed in the United States. And we have a whole lot of problems from this one case. Is that concerning to you?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: It is, of course, because I think in a contagious, as compared to say a bomb or a hurricane, other threats, it is as much about competency as it is about the contagious disease. People want the government to look and act competently. And we just saw slip-ups this week.

I thought, you know, Lisa Monaco today at the White House, I thought was masterful and sort of controlling the different pieces. There is a military piece, there is a public health piece, there are medical pieces, and so, and sort of giving this vision of a sort of whole of government response. What we have got that is actually very important for the American public.

The problem is, is that if we keep having these data points that suggest that whatever the plans are no one seems to be following them, people will start to be worried. And they will start to think that they are sick. And they will be what we call the worried well. They will show up at hospital. There will be all sorts of paranoia and hysteria. So it is important that we clamped down early on that. There has been only one case, and we are going to learn a lot in real time and we got our acts together. I mean, it is just -- otherwise, we are going to have consequences at far seat what Ebola is actually causing right now.

BERMAN: Well, let's hope we have learned a lot already.

Guys, stick around for a second here. We are waiting a news conference from Dallas officials any second now. I want to talk to you about what they say. I also want to talk to you about a conversation that I had with the last relative to see this Ebola patient before he went to the hospital.

We'll have that just ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Ebola in America. We are now waiting for a press conference from Dallas, the mayor there. We're going to bring you that as soon as it happens. We do expect some more information about that family that had been quarantined. Also some more information about the apartment where Ebola patient Thomas Duncan spent several days before he was admitted to the hospital.

I'm joined again by Doctor Seema Yasmin, Bonnie Castillo, and Juliette Kayyem.

And Bonnie, before the break, Juliette was saying this is now a learning process. We have learned from what happened over the last few days and some of the struggles in dealing with Thomas Duncan, this first Ebola patient diagnosed here in the United States. Whatever has been learned at the top levels, though, in places like Washington, do you think that information is getting to the front line to the hospitals where people who may have been in contact with Ebola, will be admitted, Bonnie?

BONNIE CASTILLO, DIRECTOR, RN RESPONSE NETWORK: No, in fact we know it has not happened. And there may have multiple failures. The disaster plan is only as good as the providers are educated and trained and aware of what should happen when our patients are admitted. And it was pretty clear that that was not the case. And in fact, it was missed and that patient was sent home. And potentially infected many others. So you know when we don't have adequate education training of all staff, it leaves all of us vulnerable.

BERMAN: Dr. Yasmin, one thing I have wondered as I have looked at New York, in what is happening in Dallas right now is, is there a communication problem between the CDC. This is the federal coordinating agency that is supposed to oversee situations like this. Is there a coordination problem between what's, you know, between then and then the people in Texas, the state officials who are supposed to have the hands-on involvement with these patients?

DOCTOR SEEMA YASMIN, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, DALLAS: Well, I can tell you from experience, there is often there is about political situation when you go into an investigation like this. There has to be excellent collaboration at among everybody in all levels. What is concerning to some us in Dallas now though, is that even though the CDC are here ,it still seems things that some of the are going on are not according to the CDC guidelines and protocols. So the fact that the family stayed in the apartment for few days f from the man was isolated, the fact that that they were contained though with those contaminated bedding and clothing, and perhaps not enough food or laundry equipment in order to be isolated there.

So a communication here is the key problem not just between the CDC and the state, though, which we feel it is a problem between the state and the rest of the community. We feel there is a lack of transparency here.

BERMAN: All right, hang on, Dr. Yasmin. We are going to go now to this news conference in Dallas right now. Let's take that pictures. It is about to begin. Let's listen in.

We have moved the family to an appropriate location, the sort of a location that would be acceptable for my family or Mike Rawlings family, or your family to be in. And there is room to roam there. It is an area that is inside the city of Dallas. And it is an area away from other people. And I want to -- I think everybody knows Louise's first name. So I want to thank Louise and her family for their perseverance, for their patience in a very difficult situation. For the bravery and the heroic way that they're going about dealing with this situation.

They are good people, kind people. People who care about their community. And they're obviously worried about their own health, they're concerned about your health, as well. And our hope is that they can have some peace and that they can be left alone for a few days, at least, in that undisclosed location. And our hope is that the people who live around the apartment complex that they were in, that their lives can get back to normal.

I want to thank the owner of the apartment complex for their understanding in this. The Vickery meadow neighborhood association, Jennifer (INAUDIBLE) Gates who went door-to-door and was out there for us, our health department. Everyone who worked on this. Our friends in the faith community who made the move that we were able to do today possible. As well as our state and our federal partners.

An update on the house is the contractors are inside. They have finalized phase one probably by now or will in the next few minutes. They will finish up their work tonight and then they will secure the building. Dr. Lakey and the estate are working on a court order for the apartment to keep it secure and quarantined until we can begin phase two. The materials will be moved to an undisclosed secure area by the Dallas county fire marshal. I'm not sure if that is still correct because my understanding was DOT was going to get the permit here so we could get that taken care of. Either DOT got the permit or we're going the take care of it. A separate vender has the federal permit required to move the

materials to their final destination. And apparently, we have been working with them over the weekend on that process. Our EOC will continue to be activated. They will continue to monitor these matters over the weekend.

I want to thank my executive staff, as well, and our team in homeland security emergency management and Dallas county health and human services, who we stood up that ICS model. And took command of the situation at 8:30 in the morning yesterday. And people have worked very hard. It has not moved as quickly as I would like, but it moved as quickly as possible under the circumstances. So with that, you're brought up to speed. I'm going to turn the mic over to David.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good evening, and thank you for having us. I'm afraid my update is very short. We just worked on contact tracing today. I think you have seen the new numbers, what we call the contact tracing numbers that went from that list of a 100 what we call potential or possible cases down to 50 and ten that we are now tracing actively. And the teams were out today working with the county and state. And that is it for us today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

MAYOR MIKE RAWLINGS, DALLAS: We're making progress. The city and the county has stepped up at every opportunity to make sure this city is as safe as it can be. And I feel good about it. I feel that citizens are safe. And that we're doing everything possible to make it a reality.

I want to say thank you to judge Jenkins. His leadership in the last 48 hours has been remarkable. And we have been proud to serve on his team. The movement of this family was a moving moment for me. Judge Jenkins met them at their apartment. Drove them in the car down to this location. And I welcomed them and we both saw them say thank you.

And it was an important moment, I think, for this family, for the county and the city. And I think for the citizens of this town. We continue to work closely with CDC, thank you for your effort. They were out this afternoon talking to all of the residents and continuing the communication about the facts of this disease.

Remember, there is zero chance that you can get this disease if you don't have contact with somebody that is actively showing symptoms of this. There was only one person in this city of Dallas that is actively showing and they are at Presbyterian hospital. And they are quarantined and safe.

We're making sure we go through those 50 people to prioritize them in low and high risk in having the appropriate protocol to work with each of them. We want to make sure that you understand that we are educating and re-educating all the public with our 311 numbers. And to make sure that if anybody gets sick to please call 911. Our paramedics have been trained on this and we'll get to you quickly and make sure that you are taken care of. Now, the weekend is at hand. There is a lot going on. We just had

the blessing of the animals in Clyde Warren park and a lot of people showed up. Tonight is football season, tomorrow is state fair. I want everybody to get out and have a good time. On Tuesday night, we're having the national night out and all the neighborhoods are going to get together. I spoke to CDC and said is that safe? And they said absolutely. We have got to get out and show the spirit of Dallas, Texas.

I want to have a personal thank you to the Dallas press. Your professionalism and how you have handled this makes me proud. There have been these reports around the nation that Dallas is fearful. And I have talked to a lot of people. We're all a little anxious. But there is no fear in our eyes. We will be safe. We will get this done in the appropriate way. And I'm proud of the professionalism that we have shown. It's very important that we get these kids to school and that is why superintendent miles is here to talk about it next week.

SUPT. MIKE MILES, DALLAS INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Our priorities for the last week has been three-fold, safety of our students, information for our students and parents. Good information about the virus, about the situation, and then of course, because we're in an educational institution, instruction of all of our kids, including the kids that had to stay home.

And so we'll continue that. We think we're making progress too, with regard to the information. Tonight, for example, we had a family and school meeting. Anybody who wanted to come to find out more, anybody who had concerns. We had only 30 parents and community member there tonight, which is a sign that information is getting out. We also had doctors on hand, and they fielded a lot of questions. And we have had that all week. And you can expect next week to be similar.

We will have additional nurses still on hand. Additional medical professionals coming in talking to our staff, talking to our parents and talking to the children. And it seems to -- the right information is getting out there.

With regard to attendance, I know that was an issue yesterday, around 85. Today was about the same with regard to the five schools. Now, two of those five schools were closed. We also had had a huge thunderstorm come in, we had 41 Dallas ISD schools without power this morning so we closed those schools, out of 222.

Nonetheless, the rest of the district was in school and doing the instructions. With regard to the instructions of the five students who are being monitored and are at home, we sent to the health department today curriculum materials and computers and hot spots and those will be delivered tomorrow so that the students who are now enrolled in a home bound program can continue their education.

So next week is more of the same. Safety of our students, a lot more information or more information will keep the parents and students updated. And then finally, we'll keep our focus on instruction.

JENKINS: We believe that is -- I don't have much time to look at all of this, yes, that is in fact it. So we'll take question and answers. Why don't we do it this way, there could be a lot. Let's start on this side with anybody -- that is not going to work, OK, Ken, ask a question --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Is there information about the materials, where were they stored, how will they be handled? We're told that there -- (INAUDIBLE)

JENKINS: Well, the materials are in sealed containers when they leave the building. I don't know if anybody -- you have probably seen footage of this. They're in sealed plastic barrels. Those barrels are then in a truck that is sealed. Then that truck is locked from the outside. Then that truck is being stored because we lack the DOT permit to dispose of the materials. And then once that permit -- that sealed truck and trailer with the sealed barrels inside of it will be guarded by deputies until such time as the permitting can be achieved and the disposal company can properly dispose of the product. So it causes no risk to the public.

I want the public to understand this. I'm a married man with a little girl who will have her ninth birthday next week, OK? I am wearing the same shirt I was when I was in the car with that family. OK? I was in their house next to those materials visiting with them, listening to them, and assuring them last night. And again, of course today. And then I was in the car in close quarters with them for 45 minutes or so. And then Mike and I, you know, we're in close proximity to them as we showed them into their new home that they will be in for the time being.

If there were any risk, I would not expose myself or my family to that risk. But there is zero risk. These people are asymptomatic. There is some risk from the materials because the materials can contain bodily fluids from the infected person. We did not handle the mattresses or anything like that when I was in their building. But those are being taken care of. The risk of what is left on the materials is very small because this is not a hardy virus. And this were, you know, moving quite a ways away from when this person was taken to the hospital. And it is not that those materials haven't been treated with bleach and it catch away to the garbage bags and some of the things that we can do. Their health department can do that were done immediately.

I want to draw a picture. I have actually been in the house. What you have is the materials and the belongings of the man were placed into garbage bags, were covered with a bleach-like substance and closed up. So that is a longer answer than what you asked for. Yes?

QUESTION: Explain how the house process came about. Was it donated? I think yesterday, we said that you -- you said you were not really looking into moving them quite yet.

JENKINS: Well, Mayor Rawlings and I used our personal contacts to find that. So my first call of the day was to a faith friend and I told my faith friend there is no room at the inn and we need your help. And Mike called that same faith friend and that faith friend was able to find something that is suitable, secured and safe for this family.

What I told Louise last night is I don't want you to be treated any differently than I would want you to treat me and my family if I were the man in Presbyterian Hospital fighting for my life and my family were afraid that they might have contracted the disease and was also worried about me.

And I apologize. Things are moving kind of fast today. So the faith community stepped up once again just like they did with the refugee situation. And although I don't want to name them, I will be praising them later, but I don't want to name them because that might give you guys an idea of where to park a truck and take pictures. Yes, sir?

QUESTION: (Inaudible) it had to be a scary experience for them. I want you to categorize your conversation with them as you drove to the new house. The whole experience.

JENKINS: Well, I went to see them last night and explained what was going on. I explained frankly some of the challenges we were facing. I apologized to them that they were in the situation they were in. And that things had not moved faster as we would like, as everyone of us would like.

And as every person standing behind me has worked their hardest to make it happen. Then I talked to them on the phone. Jennifer has been in contact with -- the councilwoman has talked with them regularly on the phone.

I talked on Jennifer's phone as the hazmat team was finishing some things up, had had them stop, went up to the family, assured them what was going on. Explained why these people who were handling the mattresses were dressed differently than me and them.

They were going to carve things up and put them in the barrels and dress differently. They were pretty understanding of that process. They have internet, I bet they have been looking. And so yes, and they were very glad to be going and very pleased when they got there.

QUESTION: What did they say when they got there?

JENKINS: Well, one of them whose name I can't tell you, Mike asked him, what do you need? And he got a big grin on his face, and he said I wish somebody would get me a basketball. So we're going to see if we can't take care of that in short order.

QUESTION: What orders are the family under? Can they go outside, do you know how long they will be there? And have you notified anybody --

JENKINS: There is no one within any proximity of them. And yes, they are free to go outside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any question for the mayor?

JENKINS: Sure, Mayor. QUESTIONS: Mayor, you're tasked with this whole thing -- can you talk a little bit. I know you kind of made examples of the fair going on and the blessing of the animals. Have you seen inside, any larger area of people worried?

MAYOR MIKE RAWLINGS, DALLAS: Not large groups, I mean, most of the individuals I have talked to said I hate to say it that we're making a little bit too big a deal about this from a media standpoint. That is what I'm hearing, I'm not being critical but that was their quote.

From time to time you have people that are pregnant. You know, and key moments in their life and they are asking those questions. So those are natural questions to ask. But it is amazing to see how this city --

JOHN BERMAN, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: All right, this is the news conference from Dallas, Texas right now where they're dealing with the first patient diagnosed with Ebola in the United States. That is Mayor Mike Rawlings of Dallas and also Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins who is in charge of the Homeland Security response to this.

The big headline, Louise, who we spoke to last night on this show and their family had been moved out of their contaminated apartment after days of living in uncertainty and among Thomas Duncan's potentially dangerous bed sheets and other personal items.

There are also some other really interesting details about how they were moved, where they were moved and with whom they were moved. When we come back, we'll get the panel's take on this. So stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: We're with breaking news, Dallas officials just moments ago announcing that Louise and her family had been moved out of their apartment. That is the apartment where Thomas Duncan fell ill from Ebola.

The family is now at an undisclosed location in Dallas, where they have in the words of one official tonight, more room to roam. We're back now with our panel, Dr. Seema Yasmin, Bonnie Castillo, Juliette Kayyem and medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen. And Dr. Yasmin, you're in Dallas. One of the headlines in the news

conference seems to me to be that they're now dealing with this family with compassion. They got them out of that apartment where they had been trapped really, under armed guard in quarantine right now with soiled linens where this Ebola patient had been.

They got them out of there. They got them into the house and sent the message that they cared. They even thanked them, this family for their patience. Why is that an important message to send right now?

DR. SEEMA YASMIN, STAFF WRITER, "DALLAS MORNING NEWS": I think it is also part of the Texas culture and people are reaching out not just the family, but also for this gentleman who is suffering with Ebola.

It is also very important in terms of allaying public fears about the transmission of Ebola. So we are hearing again and again this key reminder that Ebola is only transmitted through direct contact with infected bodily fluids.

And that's why these officials are saying we went into this apartment. Sure, it's being decontaminated now, but look when we went in, we weren't so concerned. We met with the family. We even took them in our own cars to this new undisclosed location. That's also the key point to make here.

BERMAN: Yes, Elizabeth Cohen, that jumped out at me. The mayor met this house, the family where they moved. The judge who is running the homeland security response, the response in the county, they actually took them in the car to the area.

Made a point of saying he was in the apartment, had not changed his shirt yet where he was not far from those linens. That is important to be clear about how this disease is transmitted. But that is also a separate question -- than do we have the right procedures in place to handle the presence of this disease?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, John, I thought it was really good communication when he said look, I'm wearing the same shirt I was in, in the car with them. I was in close quarters with them for 45 minutes in the car.

I'm going home to my family, my 8-year-old daughter. That is a good way to get the message out. They have had some real communication missteps. They have come off in press conferences as angry. In their communications, they have come off as antagonistic to the press and even to this family.

This is a key change in their attitude. I feel like someone got to them and said, come on, guys, you have to fix this. And I think the message really matters and I think what they're saying is, when they appear calm and compassionate that matters.

BERMAN: And Juliette, they actually thanked the press, which we don't get a lot to be honest, they thanked the family involved here. They also announced over the next few days, they want to see as many people in the area as possible.

This is like telling people, you know, to go shop and go to Disney land. You know, I remember George W. Bush saying that after September 11th. But it is an important message to send, keep calm and carry on.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: It is just a message about risk reduction. We know it is not airborne. People can walk near the neighborhood. There doesn't need to be complete isolation of the area. What we saw in the White House today and near the Dallas area.

They should be having this every single day. Just this united front, all hands on deck, look if we go slightly overboard right now that is OK. Because I mean, what the government is trying to do is sort of quell this potential hysteria in a sense that they are not doing it right. So I say more of those more often what you saw at the White House and in Dallas today, just communicating honestly with compassion, because we'll get through this. It is only one patient, everyone needs to remember that, only one patient so far.

BERMAN: Only one patient, and hysteria is never helpful. Panic is never helpful. But Bonnie, you know, concern is legitimate when it does seem like the process that we would think would be in place was not in fact in place for just this one single case.

BONNIE CASTILLO, DIRECTOR, RN RESPONSE NETWORK: Well, that's true. And there was concern from a public health standpoint that the family was left in the apartment with contaminated waste. And so it is so important that they were relocated and relocated with compassion.

This is not the time to criminalize patients or their families. It is the time to reach out and treat all people with compassion. And to allay, the way we can allay fears, though, is to be prepared.

And that is what we're concerned about is that the hospital systems are taking it seriously and adhering to the strictest guidelines of CDC. The guidelines are wonderful to have. But we really need an enforcement mechanism to ensure that the highest, strictest standards are adhered to.

BERMAN: All right, I want to thank all of you for being with me tonight. I really appreciate the difference in insight we have here. Bonnie Castillo, Elizabeth Cohen, Seema Yasmin, Juliette Kayyem, thank you so much.

And as Elizabeth said, tonight's compassionate tone is one thing. But competence is another. And with that in mind, my conversation with the last relative to see Thomas Duncan before he was taken to the hospital.

She is his stepdaughter, she watched him go downhill. She called 911, she warned EMTs that Mr. Duncan came from Liberia. If anyone has reason to worry about being exposed to Ebola, and be closely, carefully, meticulously monitored by the very best medical professionals, it is Youngor, this woman and her two kids who also came in contact with Mr. Duncan.

So when I asked her how she was notified, who told her that her stepfather did in fact have Ebola. She told me something that left me pretty speechless, and you might be, too. We spoke to her earlier tonight. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Youngor, I want to start by asking you, are you under quarantine right now?

BERMAN: Youngor, you were in contact with your stepfather who now has Ebola, it is a very serious condition. Do you feel like you're being given information from doctors and the government that you need?

JALLAH: No one gave me instruction and no one is telling me nothing.

BERMAN: They're not telling you, you should not go out for 21 days?

JALLAH: When they came, they said they would be coming here for 21 days. But we asked them can we go outside to get our babies diapers, they told me no. You have to stay here until we can ask our boss if you guys can go out or come out of the house. So we were waiting for them, when they came today they came to care for us.

BERMAN: So you have been waiting for more than a day for someone to give you an answer about whether you're under quarantine. You have been waiting for a day for any official to tell you whether it is safe for you to leave the house. You have been waiting for a day to tell you -- anyone to tell you really anything?

JALLAH: Yes, well, they're waiting. We can't go outside, we can't do nothing. We are just sitting in the house here.

BERMAN: How did you find out that he had tested positive for Ebola?

JALLAH: I saw it on the news, the TV.

BERMAN: You heard it on the news?

JALLAH: Yes.

BERMAN: You, who called 911, who helped him get into an ambulance, who saw all of his symptoms, no one called to tell you he tested positive for Ebola? You saw it on the news?

JALLAH: I saw it on the news, no one called me and told me. Daddy is with Ebola, no one called me. I heard it on the news.

BERMAN: Did anyone call and tell you your stepfather tested positive for Ebola. You were with him. You need to start taking precautions, clean yourself and the apartment up. Did anyone give you any directions?

JALLAH: No one gave me any direction.

BERMAN: Given what you know now that he had Ebola, looking back at your contact with him, do you think you had any contact with any fluids?

JALLAH: No, because when I was at the apartment, he was not throwing up when I went. He never went to the bathroom. He never throw up. He never did anything. So I'm pretty sure, I never had contact with anything.

BERMAN: Are you scared?

JALLAH: Yes, I'm scared.

BERMAN: And is anyone trying to help you deal with your fear right now?

JALLAH: There is no one, we're on guard, just pray to God that he take care of us.

BERMAN: How do you feel right now? Any fever, symptoms at all?

JALLAH: No, no fever, no symptoms, nothing.

BERMAN: Well, we certainly wish you all the best, to you and your family. It has to be incredibly difficult. We also hope you get some of the answers that you have been expecting and so badly need.

JALLAH: Thank you.

BERMAN: Youngor, thank you very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: And hopefully the officials there are starting to make progress in the communication department as well.

Coming up, three students pulled out of a Dallas elementary school because they may have had contact with Thomas Duncan. Next, why parents are doubly concerned about that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right, welcome back, parents in one Dallas school district were concerned after being told that three students have been taken out of school because of the Ebola scare. And parents say they're not getting a whole lot of information beyond that. Gary Tuchman reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Less than an hour before the school day ended on Thursday at Wallace Elementary in North Dallas, parents received an automated phone call that said three children have been taken out of the school because they may have had contact with the Ebola victim, Thomas Eric Duncan.

(on camera): Could you ever imagined that this would be happening at your children's school?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely not.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Cassandra Jenkins and Liz Mooder love their school and the teachers. They are both on the PTA board. The school was closed today because power was knocked out after a storm. But if it were open?

(on camera): Were you going to send your children to school today?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I probably not. No.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): The three children who are pulled out of the school are siblings. But parents have not been told their names, their ages or what grades they're in.

The district says it's following federal privacy guidelines that cannot legally release such information, but Cassandra who has a first grade daughter and third grade son at the school says the anonymity is leading to unease and frustration.

CASSANDRA JENKINS, PARENT: It is very disconcerting. If there is a child with lice, we got notice about that and not like a school wide notice, but it would be for a grader or for the classroom and I don't understand why we can know that about lice but not Ebola.

TUCHMAN: Liz has a son in kindergarten and another boy in first grade. She understands the three siblings taken out of school have no symptoms as of now. But thoughts run through her head.

LIZ MUDER, PARENT: Did my kids play with them at recess, rub their sweaty arms together? Things like that.

TUCHMAN: The lack of information is forcing the parents to play detective.

(on camera): You asked your children if anyone was missing?

JENKINS: Yes.

TUCHMAN: And they told you?

JENKINS: They told me that they were kids missing.

TUCHMAN: So one or more of the siblings could have been in one or more of your children's classes?

JENKINS: Absolutely, yes.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Many parents here hope the school privately informs families whose children were in same classrooms with the siblings. In the meantime, the school is being cleaned and sanitized. Both Cassandra and Liz say they will send their children back on Monday.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN: Typically, Dallas public schools have a 95 percent attendance rate, daily attendance rate. But we're told by school officials that the last two days at those four schools the rate has been about 85 percent. That is a decrease, but not a huge decrease.

The reason perhaps we should point out as school officials have told parents such absences are considered unexcused.

BERMAN: They want to see those kids back at school on Monday. Gary Tuchman, thanks so much.

Just ahead, we'll end on a more happy note. Anthony Bourdain on dining in a faraway land they called "The Bronx."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Anthony Bourdain has traveled the world for CNN's "PARTS UNKNOWN," but in a new episode this weekend, his adventures hit a little closer to home, the Bronx. He sat down to talk with the world's least adventurous eater at a great Japanese restaurant called Sakagora in Manhattan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: The Bronx, the episode coming up. You lived in New York all your adult life.

ANTHONY BOURDAIN, CNN HOST, "PARTS UNKNOWN": How often do you go to the Bronx?

COOPER: Not very often.

BOURDAIN: Me neither. I see it from my window. It's 20 minutes away.

COOPER: Because it is one of the few neighbors in New York that hasn't really gentrified in the way Brooklyn has and other parts have.

BOURDAIN: Every hipster with an Instagram account has headed out to Brooklyn, looking for you know, the new Ethiopian restaurant that nobody has been to yet. Queens has certainly been explored. Why not the Bronx?

COOPER: What kind of food were you eating?

BOURDAIN: Bangladesh, from Honduras, from Jamaica, the West Indies, old school eastern European Jewish. Italian, it is a wonderland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Man, it looks good. Tune in for Anthony Bourdain's "PARTS UNKNOWN" Sunday at 9 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, right here on CNN. That does it for this edition of 360. Thanks for watching. "THIS IS LIFE WITH LISA LING" starts now.